Reader rants about auto drivers

One of our readers Subash writes in complaining about how auto drivers crank up their silencers to produce more sound. As it is some of the sounds that autos produce send shivers down my spine and I can totally identify with what the reader says. Subash also demands to know what the traffic police in the city thinks of this measure by the auto drivers? It’s also quite ironic, the reader finds, that something called a ‘silencer’ is actually used to increase sound.
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5 Comments so far

Valentines Day brings into focus the two Indias that coexist uneasily – the poor (and conservative ) and the rich ( powerful and ‘western’).

Valentines Day, is a bad influence on traditional India, since this has given license for nudism, exhibitionism, one-night-stands, extramarital affairs, pre marital sex, and what not! All matters of the body – the physical.

For the ‘affordable’, the race to reach ‘western standards’ is all consuming. ‘Love’ is hugely misunderstood emotion – a ‘hope to get something’ from their companion. ‘Something’ can be emotional, financial, physical and even social. ‘Love’ does not need to be ‘worshipped’ as it is alleged to be done with a ‘license’ on Valentines Day. The other day that females drink without inhibition, is New Years Eve – another ‘licensed’ day!

It is this same group that has increasing divorce rates, and hence is the hot breeding ground for extremist feminists such as Renuka Chowdhury and her two daughters.

With divorce rates reaching 40% in some Indian cities, physical ‘love’ as exemplified by Valentines Day is here to stay – both as the cause and the effect.

Parthasarathy: No puns intended as such but i find your comments to be completely sexist and male chauvinist and of course tinged with a colorful topping of religious extremism, just like almond flavored topping on a cappuccino at coffee day. Allow me to explain myself as to why i accuse you of these things.

Your input goes "Valentines Day, is a bad influence on traditional India, since this has given license for nudism, exhibitionism, one-night-stands, extramarital affairs, pre marital sex, and what not! All matters of the body – the physical."

My take on it: What one does with ones body is ones own problem and will. It is agreed that its a problem if it enters another persons private space and comfort level however one-night stands, extramarital affairs and pre-marital sex are all not crimes. No law says that you must not have sex before marriage, you must not have sex out of marriage and you cannot have sex with the person of your choice.

Sex is ones own will and choice. If i like to have sex with someone and if that person is a consenting adult and agrees and expresses interest in having sex with me then i see no problem why the heck you need to be worried about it. If you dont want to have sex, fine with me. Please do what you like, don’t try and enforce your religious dogma on me and say "it’s physical" kind of rubbish.

Prove that god exists, summon god to appear before me right now and smite me. I bet my ass he wont because he does not exist. But thats not my problem, its yours to figure out where your god is and how to follow his female discriminating laws and rules are to be implemented.

Your comment "It is this same group that has increasing divorce rates, and hence is the hot breeding ground for extremist feminists"

My take on it: If i enter into a cell phone contract and i dont like the service, i will get rid of it. Simple, got it? Life is not a cell phone contract, i agree but logic works the same way. If i enter a contract of marriage and i don’t like what i got myself into or if im being given something different from what i was promised then its my right to get out of that abusive contract. It applies for the man and the woman, equally. Your demonizing of divorce only assures the fact as to how scared you are of the empowerment women have been provided in today’s society.

Your comment "With divorce rates reaching 40% in some Indian cities, physical ‘love’ as exemplified by Valentines Day is here to stay"

So what if divorce rates are 40%? Does that have an impact on your paycheck or does that make you weaker by a day? No! Love my dear friend also has a physical aspect to it, in fact it is the physical aspect that determines and influences most other aspects of love. This is scientifically tested and proved a theory, you should do some studying on it. Attraction is the key to reproduction in any animal, its no different in man. The most fertile female has to mate with the most strongest and able male to produce the best off spring. Thats now nature works with evolution.

Being human beings we have this aspect of culture and society that interferes and influences these primal instincts of ours, namely: Food, Sex and Survival, the basics of any life on earth.

While im not trying to simplify things to a gross extent and undermine the complexity and intensity of human emotions and practices, all of it is based on such simple principles of life that applies for all animals and plants, including the man.

As for you, you will have to put up with increasing divorce rates, women showing cleveage in public with attractive (or say in your words nudism) and comfortable dressing habits and yes we youngsters will not burden ourselves with someone else determining whom and when we need to have sex with. We will sleep around as we want to with consenting adults just like the westerners and there is nothing you can do th change it.

Atheists like me will fight to our last for gender equality and we will love our women to be liberal and ask any man who eats into her space and rights to buzz off. Last but not the least, the world is waking up to the problem of religious dogma. Hinduism is passive a problem and it will take some time for awareness to come that its no different from Christianity or Islam. Please welcome to the reality, "physical" is here to stay. I’m not saying this to badmouth your "spiritual" love with god (whom by the way has awesome women with 32D breasts sculpted all over his temple walls and of course scenes of anal and oral sex with crystal clear documentation which your children should definitely see and learn from) but if you believe in something, keep it to yourself. Please dont try and force it down everyones throat. This practice has never worked in the past and its not going to work anytime in the future.

In the case of autos also perhaps similar action can be thought of under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act of respective state governments. There are clear rules about the condition of vehicles, pollution norms on carbon emission, numberplate colour and size, size of letters, restrictions on the tint percentage for window glasses in case of four wheelers, viewfinders, fancy and queer horns, jewel headlights, half-shade on headligths etc.

When such restrictions and rules are being applied for vehicles, the RTA and traffic police authorities in concert with civic authorities can impose restrictions on autos causing noise pollution by tinkering with silencers.

What is needed is a sustained campaign to drive home the point that no one has a right to disturb peace.

Very relevant article. I found Chennai’s autos the most raucous and irritating. Does it reflect the culture of the auto drivers themselves? Crass and illiterate. The same bajaj autos are found in cities like mumbai and states like Kerala where they sound refined and dignified.I think, in Chennai, it signifies a need to get noticed above the din and bustle of Chennai traffic and what better way than to be a pain-in-the-ear.